The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Seven Jeweled Mountain

Seven Jeweled Mountain

late 1800s
Overall: 185.2 x 42.9 cm (72 15/16 x 16 7/8 in.); Each screen: 158.2 x 42.9 cm (62 5/16 x 16 7/8 in.)
Location: 236 Korean

Did You Know?

Featuring a spectacular panoramic view and topographical details, this ten-panel folding screen is an excellent 19th-century version of the Korean “true-view” landscape painting tradition.

Description

With a bird’s-eye view, this ten-panel folding screen portrays the famous Seven Jeweled Mountain 칠보산 in North Korea. Ancient volcanic eruptions shaped the mountain’s unique and awe-inspiring terrain such as phallic-shaped pillars (panel #5, from the right); a large flat-topped, steep-sided cliff (panels #7 and #8), and a rugged mountain composed of metamorphic and igneous rocks (panels #9 and #10). The tradition of landscape painting that details actual natural sites and captures their topographic features in Korea began in the 1700s and continued onward.

While such natural wonders were beloved as popular destinations for tourism and pilgrimage, after the Korean War (1950–53), these sites in North Korea are no longer accessible to the outside world. This folding screen detailing the mountain’s distinctive topography feeds our imagination and longing for such an unattainable place.
  • ?–1989
    (Sydney L. Moss, Ltd., London, England, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1989–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Cunningham, Michael R. "Notable Acquisitions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 78, no. 3 (1991): 63–147. Reproduced: p. 134; Mentioned: p. 135 www.jstor.org
    Yi, Seongmi, "Artistic Tradition and the Depiction of Reality: True-View Landscape Painting of the Choosŏn Dynasty." Arts of Korea. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998: 330–468.
    Our Land, Our True-View Landscape [우리 땅, 우리의 진경]. Chuncheon: Chuncheon National Museum, 2002.
    Franklin, David and C. Griffith Mann. Treasures from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2012. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 210–211
    Treasures from Korea: Arts and Culture of the Joseon Dynasty, 1392-1910. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2014.
    Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 254
    Exquisite and Precious: the Splendor of Korean Art [세밀가귀]. Seoul: Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, 2015. Reproduced: pp. 232–233, plate 123
    Beyond Folding Screens [조선, 병풍의 나라]. Seoul: Amorepacific Museum of Art, 2018.
    McCormick, Sooa. "North of the Border: A preview of the Korean gallery's new display, coming in January.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine vol. 58, no. 6 (November/December 2018): 16–17. Reproduced: p. 16; Mentioned: p. 17.
    McCormick, Sooa Im. "Re-Reading Imagery of Tilling and Weaving in the Context of the Little Ice Age." In Eco-Art History in East and Southeast Asia, edited by De-nin D. Lee. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2019. Reproduced: p. 25, fig, 1-8
    Through the Eyes of Joseon Painters: Real Scenery Landscapes of Korea [화가의시선: 조선시대실경산수화]. Seoul: National Museum of Korea, 2019.
    McCormick, Sooa Im. "The Past and Present of the Korean Collection in the Cleveland Museum of Art." In The Korean Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Ch'a, Mi-rae, Kwi-suk An, Cleveland Museum of Art, 국외소재문화재재단, and An Min-hŭi, ed., 22–37. First edition, English ed. Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Series, 16. Seoul, Republic of Korea: Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation, 2021. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 32–33, fig. 29
    Ch'a, Mi-rae, Kwi-suk An, Cleveland Museum of Art, and 국외소재문화재재단. The Korean Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Edited by An Min-hŭi. First edition, English ed. Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Series, 16. Seoul, Republic of Korea: Overseas Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation, 2021. Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 188–95, no. 117
  • Mountains and Rivers Beyond the DMZ – Korean Gallery 236 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (January 21-July 21, 2019).
    Exquisite and Precious: The Splendor of Korean Art. Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea (Republic of) (organizer) (July 2-September 13, 2015).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 238). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (April 26, 2013-January 27, 2014).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 121). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 18-October 26, 2003).
    Notable Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 15, 1991).
  • {{cite web|title=Seven Jeweled Mountain|url=false|author=|year=late 1800s|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1989.6